Sermons of the Eid al-Fitr Prayer

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, who created the heavens and the earth and made darkness and light; then those who disbelieved in their Lord equate (others with Him). We praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, believe in Him, rely on Him, and send blessings and peace upon His beloved, His chosen one, and the best of His creation, the guardian of His secrets and the deliverer of His messages, the herald of His mercy and the warning of His punishment, our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous progeny, especially the Awaited One of God on the earth, and upon his chosen companions.

I congratulate the blessed Eid al-Fitr to all Muslims and fasting believers across the Islamic world; especially to the faithful and dear nation of Iran and to you, brothers and sisters who are gathered for prayer.

The Eid of Ramadan is, in fact, a day of gratitude; gratitude for the success of passing through the month of divine hospitality, gratitude for fasting, gratitude for the opportunity for worship, remembrance, humility, and supplication to the exalted presence of the Almighty. Truly, for this gratitude, a faithful person must celebrate.

The record of the dear nation of Iran's benefit from this month — according to reliable information at my disposal — is a brilliant and outstanding record. Our nation has truly benefited from the blessed month of Ramadan; all classes, all social groups, and various inclinations and tendencies, and those who have differences in their ordinary lives, in their behaviors, in their clothing, and in some of their characteristics, all came together. We must greatly thank God for this great blessing — the blessing of faith and the heartfelt inclination of the Muslim nation towards religion and the truths of religious and Islamic teachings. This is one of the outstanding features of the Iranian nation. What is shown in the media and press — such as radio, television, and newspapers — about the religiosity of the people undoubtedly represents only a part of the thousands of attentions and supplications of the people. In this great country, in all these cities, in all these villages, in tens of thousands of mosques and husseiniyahs and various centers, these people, these youths, girls and boys gathered on the nights of Qadr and in other nights of this month, extended their hands in supplication, asked from the Almighty God, spoke with God, and engaged in intimate prayers; this is of great value.

This month of Ramadan has lessons for us; not lessons that one learns from a teacher's words or from a book, but lessons that one learns in a practical exercise, in a large collective endeavor. The first lesson is the connection with God and maintaining a heartfelt bond with the essence of the One and the Beloved. You tasted the pleasure of this lesson; you saw how easily one can establish contact with the Almighty God. "And indeed, the one who is journeying towards You is near in distance, and You do not conceal Yourself from Your creatures except that their deeds conceal them from You"; the path to God is close. You saw this on the night of Qadr; you saw it during supplication and visitation; you engaged in intimate prayers; you brought your heart to the Almighty God and strengthened your love for Him. Keep this great pleasure for yourselves. Do not let this relationship be severed. This is the first lesson.

Another lesson is the gathering of all the various inclinations of a nation around the axis of religion and monotheism. When we say national unity, when we say the Iranian nation is united, this unity, this oneness is not without roots; it is not merely due to a recommendation or a command; the foundation of this unity is this religious faith. It is religion, it is belief that draws us all towards a center; that center is the attention to the exalted essence of the Almighty. This is the foundation of our national unity; it brings hearts closer together, softens them. In congregational prayers, in Friday prayers, in the ceremonies of revival and holding the Quran and supplication and humility, whoever is next to you; from any inclination, from any social group, with any appearance, is your brother; he is with you; he is your confidant in the presence of the exalted Lord. Preserve this heartfelt connection; this is another lesson.

Another lesson is the issue of being strict with oneself and giving to others. This hunger, this thirst, fasting from dawn to dusk, is being strict with oneself. Many of our people have been strict with themselves through fasting and have given various forms of charity to others. How delightful it is to see that on the night of the birth of Imam al-Hasan (peace be upon him), at the bakery, a sign has been put up that says: "Tonight, in love of Imam Hasan, bread from this bakery is free for anyone who wants to come and take it." These charitable acts during iftars — nameless and unrecognized iftars, iftars in mosques — through such innovative actions of our people, this is another lesson, another exercise. Let us be strict with ourselves and give to others. I want to pause a little on this point; because one of the important issues in our country and society is this.

We are a wasteful people; we waste; waste in water, waste in bread, waste in various means and snacks, waste in gasoline. A country that produces oil is importing oil products — gasoline! Is this not surprising?! Every year we spend billions to import gasoline or other things because part of our population and nation wants to waste! Is this right?! We must look at this as a national flaw. Wastefulness is bad; even in spending for the sake of God, it is said. The Almighty God tells His Prophet in the Quran: "Do not let your hand be chained to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost"; act like this in spending for God. Do not be excessive or stingy. Moderation; moderation in spending. We must establish this as a national culture. The Quran says: "And those who when they spend"; those who when they want to spend, "are neither extravagant nor stingy"; they do not waste — do not go to excess — nor do they hold back and live under pressure; no, Islam does not recommend this either. Islam does not say that people should live with such asceticism and abstinence; no, they should live normally, live moderately. What you see from some foreign meddling, foreign governments, constantly threatening our nation that we will impose sanctions, we will impose sanctions — they have imposed sanctions many times — is because they hope for this negative characteristic of ours. If we are wasteful and careless in spending, sanctions may be hard on a wasteful and careless person; but a nation that is mindful of its affairs, that keeps track of its income and expenses, that considers its interests, does not waste, does not go to excess. Well, let them impose sanctions. Such a nation will not suffer from sanctions. Let us remember this point from the month of Ramadan and, God willing, act upon it.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised one another to truth and advised one another to patience.

Second Sermon

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous progeny, especially upon Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, and the pure one, and Hasan and Husayn, the masters of the youth of Paradise, and Ali ibn Husayn, Zain al-Abidin, and Muhammad ibn Ali, the interpreter of the prophets' knowledge, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, and Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim, and Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, and Hasan ibn Ali al-Zaki al-Askari, and the awaited Mahdi, Your proofs over Your servants and Your trusted ones in Your lands, and send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims and the protectors of the oppressed and the guides of the believers. I advise you, O servants of God, to be pious to God.

The first matter I must mention in the second sermon is my deep gratitude to the Iranian nation for the Quds Day march. Truly, it must be said: Greetings to the Iranian nation! You have shown your national greatness, your Islamic standing, your dignity to the world. The role of these marches is very significant. Since the time the colonizers occupied Palestine, their goal has been to make the name and memory of Palestine forgotten; to make the people of the world and future generations forget that there was once a land in the world, a country called Palestine; that was their goal. Then, when they could not do so, and the great uprising of the Palestinian nation — both in the first Intifada and in the Intifada of Al-Aqsa Mosque — rekindled this flame in the world and drew the hearts of nations and individuals and the fair-minded of the world towards it, they thought the remedy was to imprison the Palestinian Arabs in a corner of this land, to confine them, and to keep the prosperous and bountiful country of Palestine and the sensitive region of Palestine entirely in the hands of the Zionists with a Zionist identity, pushing the Arabs towards Gaza and the West Bank.

Today, when you look at the behavior of the Zionists, you see that their goal is to destroy as much as they can the motivations of resistance and steadfastness in the Palestinian people; all their actions are based on this policy: to eliminate the motivation for resistance. But the Palestinian people have stood firm. Firstly, they have not abandoned the struggle, and secondly, they have brought a government to power with their votes that has the slogan of resistance and struggle against the occupiers, and despite all the pressures that have been placed on this government and its people in recent years, they have stood firm; they are resisting. But a nation that is alone, isolated in a corner, without access to any point in the world, can only have hopes in God. This great slogan of the Muslim nations in favor of Palestine gives them spirit; it prepares their hearts for greater steadfastness, in addition to familiarizing the public opinion of the world with the legitimacy of the Palestinian cause.

The Iranian nation, with this march, has given honor to the Islamic Republic; it has given honor to Iran and Iranians and has shown that they are still at the forefront of defending the great right of the Islamic Ummah regarding the country of Palestine and the Palestinian nation. This was very valuable.

In the same context of Palestinian issues, today efforts are being made to impose another burden on the Palestinian people in the name of peace. Until now, every gathering held in the name of peace has resulted in actions against the Palestinian people and to their detriment. Again, the Americans have initiated another conference, which the Palestinian people have rejected. This conference, which they have called the autumn conference, has been rejected by the Palestinians. When a Palestinian rejects an action or a movement that is formed in their name by others — other governments — how can they accept this gathering and this conference? When they see this conference as a deception, others must also see it as a deception. These movements are, in fact, initiatives of the United States to save the Zionists. The Zionists, whose government and army received a strong blow last year from the brave and self-sacrificing Hezbollah of Lebanon, and who have faced the firm "no" of the Palestinian government — the Hamas government — and have been weakened and humiliated, want to save them. Then they pit Palestinians against Palestinians. If I have one message for my Palestinian brothers, it is this: Brothers! Do not stand against each other. The enemy is in your home. The enemy is sowing discord among you. Palestine must be saved by the Palestinian people, and the Islamic Ummah must support them. The people of Palestine must stand together.

The issue of Palestine is one issue. The issue of Iraq is another issue in the Islamic world. Our hearts bleed for Iraq. This blind terrorism, in fact supported and endorsed by the enemies of the Iraqi nation, has darkened the day of the Iraqi nation. Here too, the primary blame lies with the occupiers. They do not establish security; either they cannot or they do not want to. They do not allow the popular government to take security initiatives and work on its own. They are to blame. Today, whatever tragedy occurs in Iraq — humanitarian tragedy, developmental tragedy, political tragedy — the primary culprit and the first responsible party are the occupiers; that is, primarily the United States and then the rest of the allies who are engaged in military occupation in Iraq.

O Lord! Deliver the Islamic Ummah from the evil of its enemies. O Lord! Awaken the nations and governments of Islam; grant them strength. O Lord! Guide us to what pleases You; grant us success in doing it. O Lord! Unite the pure souls of the martyrs of Islam and the dear martyrs of the Islamic Republic and the imposed war with Your saints. O Lord! Grant our prayers to the presence of the Awaited One (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.